Dulux: A colourful story

The latest Dulux Velvet Touch ad introduces its new brand ambassador Farhan Akhtar.

Colours personify emotions and mirror the stories behind every success and achievement. Akzo Nobel India's latest Dulux Velvet Pearl Glo television commercial (TVC) is based on the same insight.

With the tagline 'chamak rahe ho tum' (you are shining), the campaign introduces director-actor Farhan Akhtar, the new ambassador of the brand, in a classy black, sleek and suave avatar.

The commercial is an extension of Dulux Velvet Pearl Glo's earlier ad with celebrity quotient starring Bollywood actors Shahid Kapoor and Boman Irani. The theme of that ad was 'apne rang chhalakne do' (let your colour flow).

The TVC opens with Akhtar in an introspective mood. He narrates the lives of three different people through the personification of colours. The ad uses the colours red, green, pink and blue to represent a multitude of attitude and aspirations. While red indicates a fuel for creative passion, green indicates imagination driving one's dreams and pink states family's importance, in spite of achieving success. And the TVC finally ends with Akhtar painting a wall with blue as he asks, 'Dulux Velvet Touch ki chamak bar bar poochti hai ki chamak rahe ho na tum'?

Conceptualised by McCann Erickson, the TVC is directed by Ravi Udayawar and is produced by RU Films. The commercial's script has been written by Prasoon Joshi.

It is pertinent to note here that the campaign has also been dubbed in English, Tamil, Bengali and Malayalam and apart from TV, it will also use print extensively for marketing and promotions.

Pushkar Jain, category manager interiors, brand and digital, Dulux, Akzo Nobel India, says, "In a progressive world, one needs to constantly renew oneself to remain competitive and achieve success in a shortest possible time. The ad film connects with our target group at an emotional level. The ad not only illustrates the functionality of the paint but the glow of colours of the paint, which inspires everyday renewal stories."

Prasoon Joshi, executive chairman, CEO and chief creative officer, McCann Worldgroup India notes that the creative challenge for the agency was to interpret the global Dulux positioning of 'renewal' in the Indian cultural environment. "We created the communication which manifests how the glow of Velvet Touch on a person's walls inspires him to keep striving, thus making the brand a catalyst for renewal in the person's life," Joshi avers.

The brand targets the 25-45 year old urban men and women through the latest TVC as the TG is driven by the hunger for accelerated progress in life. They are not apologetic about expressing their individual personality, interests and success. They love to be with times and trends and want to be seen by others as discerning.

So, does Akhtar's poetic act along with the transformational power of colours work for the brand?

Sujit Das, executive creative director, at Pickle Lintas, feels it does. He notes that the TVC doesn't talk about the product as such. It takes a more emotional approach on the lines of Asian Paints' Har ghar kuch kehta hai commercial.

"It's done nicely and since its high on emotions, it will be taken well by the general viewers. The brand's previous ads were a little forced, where the product came later. This attempt is far better from its earlier ads. Also, Farhan Akhtar brings out a modern and contemporary image. He is known to be experimental and brings certain finesse to the film," Das opines.

Raj Nair, chief creative officer, BMB India finds the ad a touch pedantic as the role of the brand is determined by the colours in people's lives and what each colour can potentially mean to each one of them.

"And, if you fulfill the full potential of each colour then you will shine. This is the overall message. As a creative in advertising, I get it. Will the average viewer get this intelligent but layered offering from the brand? I think time will determine that," says Nair.